How did you first come to poetry? What is it about the form that resonates?
I used to write poetry when I was in high school, and over the years, I continued to write, but not very seriously. Then a few years ago, I applied to a writing mentorship program aimed at emerging BIPOC writers that seeks to yield new literary works, explore immigrant experiences, and encourage dialogue celebrating Canada’s diversity. This program was life-changing for me. I had an incredible mentor—the poet, Vivian Hansen. The program helped me find the courage to use writing as a tool for self-discovery, healing, and embracing agency. The power of poetry is incredible. Poetry has helped me confront a legacy of unprocessed intergenerational trauma and approach topics that are often cloaked in silence and shame with compassion and honesty.
How does a poem begin?
In the way it needs to. Sometimes it begins with an errant thought, at other times a fleeting image or sudden memory, and sometimes it arrives almost fully intact. Almost always, I’m surprised by its arrival.
Do you see your writing as a single, extended project, or a series of threads that occasionally weave together to form something else?
Definitely threads. I often don’t even see the connections until much, much later, so I try not to worry too much about the ‘weaving’ together or the ‘body of work.’ I try to let the writing taking me to where it needs to go, rather than the other way around.
Have you a daily schedule by which you work, or are you working to fit this in between other activities?
I would describe my writing schedule as intentionally haphazard and informal. I usually muse and gather initial ideas when I go for walks—I find I’m most inspired by fresh air, physical movement, and nature. I try to record audio notes on my phone, and then transcribe them when I’m back at my desk. These observations and reflections are the seeds for future poems. I try not to put too much pressure on myself with a strict schedule as I find it stifles my creativity.
What are your favourite print or online literary journals?
I have many! Focusing on CanLit, I think Canthius, TheEx-Puritan, filling Station, and CV2 have been putting out
some amazing work. I love how The Polyglot offers up excellent multilingual
poetry and art. Augur is absolutely amazing to work with.
Moni Brar was born in rural India and raised in northern British Columbia on the land of the Tse’Khene peoples. She has multiple nominations for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net and was the recipient of the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal and the 2022 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award. A finalist for the Montreal International Poetry Prize, she has received writing awards from PRISM, Grain, Room, The Fiddlehead, and The Ex-Puritan. Her work appears in Best Canadian Poetry, The Literary Review of Canada, Hobart, the League of Canadian Poets’ “Poem in Your Pocket” postcard series, and elsewhere. She believes art contains the possibility of healing.
A selection of her poems appear in the ninth issue.